Whisper of the Beast
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: Can Aizen and the return of the espada be stopped? And how far will you go, Ichigo? IchigoxYachiruXNel. Angst and Fluff.
1. Rage

**This will be my last new story for awhile peoples.**

He was down, bleeding from multiple wounds.

"Fuck...

He ground a fist into the sands.

He was dying, and he knew it. He had tried to destroy the espada, but he had been cut down, nearly destroyed.

_Damn Aizen_, he thought bitterly, darkly.

He was suddenly aware of many reaitsu signatures behind him.

"No!!" A voice screaming, rage tinting her pure voice.

"Yachiru-chan NO!" He could hear someone yelling at the girl, screaming for her not to fight, not to battle.

Not to die.

_Stop, _He moaned, though he did not, could not, make a sound. _You can't beat him._

But the girl could not hear him, and did not heed the cry. She was angry, angrier than anyone had ever seen her. Her sword was out of it's scabbard, held in front of her, shaking in her rage.

"RAGE!" She screamed, her voice echoing to the sky. "KENJU-NEKO!!"

Pure pink reiatsu exploded around her, though there was no obvious physical change. He knew that the only change was the fact that her sword was thicker, and she was perhaps three inches taller.

"You think that a mere shikai will beat me?" Aizen asked softly, chuckling.

Yachiru's narrowed sharply, her body still shaking. Her mouth spilt into an vicious grin.

"No, but this might. BAN-KAI!" She roared.

Everyone could see that Kenpachi was shocked beyond belief. Anyone watching this _would_ be shocked beyond belief. Who would have thought that sweet, young, innocent Yachiru Kusjishi would be able to achieve _ban-kai?_

The pink reiatsu swirled around the girl, though she was no longer so small. She seemed to have grown ten years, looking perhaps 17, then just 7. Metal gloves adorned her hands, and she had no visible weapon. Her kimono barely fit her body now.

She glared at Aizen, who was watching her coldly.

"Die." She whispered, and vanished.

His blade moved quickly, blocking something that was too fast to see.

Everyone knew that Yachiru was fast.

Perhaps she was fast enough.

But Aizen was faster, as he stabbed fiercely with his sword, impaling the girl on his blade. Yachiru's blood red eyes widened in shock, but narrowed in determination. The metal gloves on her hands flashed, and metal blades that looked like claws sprang from the fingers. Yachiru forced herself father upon the steel, and began slashing at him, not caring anymore.

Kenpachi leapt in with a wary cry, joining the fray soon afterwards.

Then Uryuu.

_NO! _Ichigo screamed in his head. But he could not move, could not do anything to help his friends, the only one's who truly cared. They were killing themselves to kill the one who tried to kill him. And he was unable to help.

A low growl was heard.

"Bastard! Bankai!"

That had to be Renji.

"Cry out, ZABIMARU!"

Yup. He thought lazily, as he continued to lose blood.

That was definitely him.

He could not bring himself to look as may more of his friends leapt into the fray.

Aizen shook his head and held up one finger.

"Cero Oscuras."

And they fell like flies.

Rukia....

Chad...

A growl, a snarl, as he willed his body to move.

"Ba-st-ard!"

Aizen now looked his way, and tossed Rukia off his blade.

"And now you will join them."

_"Get up, you fool."_

He bit his lip.

The voice was sharp with disgust and reproach. Ichigo could not move to see who was speaking to him. A foot clad in a sandal appeared in his vision.

_"Can't move. You're pitiful. I told ya not to die until I came back."_

This is what we can hope from the strongest captain of the Gotei 13. I'm ashamed to be even associated with you."

Though it hurt like hell, he turned his head enough to the up the leg in front of him.

Ichigo was staring at what would have to be a pale reflection of himself.

It looked _exactly _like him, except there were absolutely no traces of color to be found anywhere on its person. It was almost as if someone had taken a big tub of bleach and dumped it all over him. The sole exception to this would have to be the black sclera and golden yellow irises. Those piercing eyes reflected a sharp intellect, a cold and calculating intelligence that he knew all too well...

His own.

Hichigo was back.

The hollow looked down at him, and shook his head, lips pursed in annoyance.

_"Get up already."_ He ordered, glaring.

Ichigo could not speak, or else he would have told him to fuck off.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Now get up. If you ask really, really nice, I may even help you." He gave him a cruel smirk, and turned back to the fight.

Ichigo looked as well.

Yachiru was dying, but she had gotten back to Aizen. Long slashes adorned Aizen's face and chest, mostly his chin and collarbone. Yachiru had obviously been trying to but the man's throat.

"Fuku-taicho!" Ikkaku Madrame yelled, though he was in no condition to fight. Next to him, Yumichika was bleeding to death from a deep gash on his chest. Ikkaku's arm was broken, and he couldn't even lift his scabbard, let alone his sword. But Ichigo could see the look in the man's eyes, and knew that Ikkaku was planning on getting himself killed, if it kept Yachiru half-way alive.

Hell, he'd do the exact same thing.

"How strange." Aizen murmurred, voice curious, as he approached Ikkaku. "You all are the biggest group of barbarians and brutes, and yet you would sacrifice yourselves for each other."

Ikkaku's scream of pain ripped into his skull, and then he was unconcious.

_What do you want? _Ichigo thought, the closest thing he could get to talking.

The hollow glanced down at him.

_"Want? I want you to get up. I want you to **rise**, take Zangetsu up, and make that bastard over there bleed"_

The word rang through his body, making him blink.

_I don't trust you. _He thought hard, annoyed. _You'll take over my soul!'_

_"I can give you the strength to rise, but do you want to?"_ The pale apparition taunted.

Kenpachi's eyes focused on his daughter, the pink haired little imp he had raised, and named. She was off of Aizen's sword, laying at the traitor's feet. She was dying, her eyes fluttering in pain. Kenpachi could see the gleam in Aizen's eyes, and watched at the traitior's sword rose.

"Teme!" He charged, throwing himself over Yachiur only to fall with a multitude of gashes all over his body.

_'Kenpachi!'_

Aizen raised his sword again-

And Ichigo snapped like a twig.

Aizen had frozen from his movements, sensing the rising reiatsu.

He stared at Ichigo, his eyes wide.

"Impossible" He whispered.

Ichigo stood up, but now held a massive scythe in his hand. His bleeding had stopped. The shinigami daijo said nothing, his eyes on his Yachiru. Her eyes watched him, a smile ghosting across her face.

"Ichi...." She whispered, though it seemed to tax her strength. Her eyes slid shut, and her breathing slowed.

He shunpoed across the sands and knelt down next to her.

Tenderly, so as not to hurt her, he scooped the child back up in his arms, then brought her a few feet away, to Unohanna, who had thankfully just now arrived.

"Stay alive. This'll be over quick."

Then he was gone.

"She's dying." The blade in his hand, the spirit next to him, said in amazment.

The black eyes settled on Ichigo. _"Zangetsu and I haven't been released in the time we've been with you, and that's a lot of strength bottled up."_

Ichigo was giving Aizen a death glare when he returned, his eyes roaming over his fallen friends.

White, pallid lips slid up into a sardonic grin. _"You're about to be the fastest man to ever achieve it."_

_'It?' _

Hichigo chuckled, and held his sword out in front of him. Aizen watched him, frozen in shock. Out of the corner of his eye, Ichigo could see his friends staring at him, albeit a bit hazily. He ignored them.

_"The third release."_

Yachiru reached up a trembling hand, and slid it down his arm, and touched the sword. He noticed that her finger nails were the color of blood. Her other hand was placed on his shoulders.

He wathced as her hand fell seconds later.

"Rise." He forced out through near unmoving lips.

His heart began beating faster, until it was a dull roar in his ears.

_'Again. Say it again!'_

He coughed slightly...

And then barked out the release.

"RISE! Tenshagaigyaku Zangetsu!" **(Translation:Heavenly reverse Scythe chain Slicing Moon)**

_"FINALLY!!"_ The hollow screamed in vicious joy, and Ichigo could feel pure power race through him, more then he had had on his own, or even with his mask. He felt the wounds on his body heal, or at least stop bleeding, and he rose to his feet, murder in his eyes.

For a second, the entire caste of Las Noches was blanked in black reiatsu.

Aizen's eyes widened as a a dark light, terrible and twisted, shone into the night.

It shone for only a moment, but when it cleared, he swallowed nervously, descending to the ground.

Ichigo no longer looked even remotely human.

With the exception of his eyes.

They were the same as his when he wore his mask, which was no practically a part of his face.

Ichigo cracked his neck, looking more like a hollow, now then ever. His yellow eyes gleamed out from his mask, his now long orange hair was practically and unruly mane, swaying whipping wildly about him in his energy. He gripped both a scythe in one hand, and nothing in the other. A long tail lashed at the ground behind him, and his twisted reiatsu nearly suffocated the life out of whoever was alive...

His bankai outfit, now left him shirtless, the bottom portion of it white and black, his skin crisscrossed with red lines, an eerie combination of silver and crimson. There was a hole there. He bore twin sets of spiky pads upon his shoulders. His chest now rippled with muscle as hot steam escaped his deadly jaws, along with a harsh, deep booming voice. His own, as well as his hollow's.

When he spoke, it sounded as if nails were being grinded against a chalkboard.

**"Aizen...I...will...**

His clawed feet dug into the ground, preparing for a leap, as he gathered energy. His hands gripped at the zanpaktou, and Zangetsu began to spark with wild black energy. Whatever he was building up for...

It was something big.

With a mighty heave, he sprang!

**"I will kill you!"**


	2. Chapter 2

Aizen, being somewhat higher on the speed scale than Ichigo, dodged the first attack, but was unable to evade the second as the possessed shinigami raked down his side, leaving three bloody gouges down his chest, the force throwing him across the sand, sliding on his uninjured left side before bouncing and landing on his feet.

Ichigo was there, preparing to strike-

Before a stream of black light came out of the sky, forcing him to reach up and block it.

Aizen had somehow gotten above him.

At first, he was able to hold it back with just one hand, but as the tratirous captain, continued to pour power into the attack, Ichigo's hand began to shake under the assault, and he brought his other hand up to help. Still the cero pushed down, Ichigo pushing back as he pushed his power into holding back the attack.

He soon realized the futility of his efforts, and elected a different attack. Biting his tongue, he opened his maw. Blue light began to shine and crackle from the back of his throat. He was building up for something BIG.

Yellow pupils gleamed as he spoke the words.

**"Gran rey cero!"**

Blue met black in a massive explosion, canceling each other out, and blasting both combatants back a pace or two.

Ichigo didn't let up, and sprang after him, scratching and clawing, desperate to drive him away. Awat from his friends and loved ones. Surely Aizen realized this, but made no effort to hold his ground, instead letting the shinigami daijo push him back. Zangetsu hummed in the air as he struck, and was countered.

A thin gash blossomed on the side of the Hollow's face, but healed almost immediately. Like a snake, the tail extended, and coiled around Aizen's neck. Hollowfied eyes met cool calculating brown, as if to say: **"Was that it?"**

Cracking the appendage like a whip, he veritably heaved Sosuke across the sands, appeared above him, and once again the air exploded with a volley of cero's from the opponents. Their battle was bringing them deeper and deeper into Hueco Muendo.

Where the Vasto Lorde roamed.

Aizen momentarily went to one knee, even as he succesfully parried Ichigo.

Apparently, Yachiru had scratched him up quite badly.

Ichigo took advantage of this. With an anguished scream, he jumped forward, dashing past the captain turning in midair so that he could bring his scythe forward across his back in a raking attack. Seeing this, Aizen turned unexpectedly, catching Zangetsu on his own blade-

Sparks flew as they strained against each other.

"It's a shame you didn't come work for me, Kurosaki." He said this as if they were talking over a cup of tea, not currently dueling to the death, to decide who would ultimately rule the universe. Ichigo's response was to jump back a pace, and hold three fingers into a point, or as best his clawed fingers could form.

The cero began to gather power, and within a few seconds, the very ground itself was shaking.

**"Fuck off!"**

But much to his surprise, Ichigo tipped his hand down, and blasted it into the sand. This had been planned, as he now had a smokescreen to hide his movments. Aizen sighed, and blew a strand of hair from his face. "What are you doing?" Several more cero's hit the sands, with enough heat to vaporize the grains into glass.

By now, smoke was everywhere.

Aizend calmly glanced around, then saw a silhoutte in the smoke.

He held up his zanpaktou.

"Shatter."

Ichigo burst out of the smoke coming, and Aizen realized too late...

That the vizard was perfectly capable of seeing him. But by then the tail had coiled around his neck, strangling him. The beast's left hand came down ans seized Aizen by the coat, drawing him into an embrace.

Ichigo began spinning his scythe.

Too late, Aizen realized what the hollow was going to do.

**"Getsuga... Tenshou..." **It rumbled.

Black light, with a tinge of red, exploded in a massive dome, in which Ichigo and Aizen took the brunt of the hit.

Or rather, Aizen did. Indeed, he took the full hit of Ichigo's strike , the power driving him into the sand, scorching his body and baking the sand around him. Ichigo saw what had happened, and laughed aloud.

**"How did that feel, fucker?!"**

Aizen's response was to fire a point blank Cero. Ichigo jumped out of the way, and came up from behind. His attack ripped off Aizen's jacket. However, Aizen had already discarded the robe, and was now wearing arrancar robes that were vaguely similair to Ulquiorra's, minus the long coattails.

Ichigo dropped down, landing lightly in a crouch. He glanced over at Aizen, who wasn't making a move, just letting him recover his strength. _'Arrogant bastard, he isn't even taking me seriously.'_

"That was a very powerful move. I never thought that I would need both hands to counter it." Sosuke stated calmly. He held up his hands, and they were blackened and charred, but he made proof that he could move them, as evident by flexing his fingers. "Truly impressive, for one as weak as you.

**"The only weak one here is you." **Growled Ichigo.

Aizen's response to the insult was bring his own hand up, the longer middle finger pointed straight at him, a cero beginning to form on the end. Ichigo brought his own fingers up, pouring the power into his cero, making the newly acquired technique more powerful than he'd ever made it before.

Ichigo let his cero fly at the same time Aizen did, the two crimson surges of power meeting in the middle, pushing, straining against each other, as each put everything they had into it.

For an instant, Ichigo's cero held, but then he slowly began to be pushed back under the power of Aizen. It could not be helped. Sosuke's cero was more concentrated than his, and the majority of his was being deflected away from the center, where the tug of war was going on.

As Ichigo concentrated on putting even more power into the cero, he didn't notice a figure get up behind him and slink to the side, crouched so low that her was dragging the sand. But that didn't matter. She was injured, yes, but she'd been injured before, and this cut on her stomach was nothign.

Coming up beside Ichigo, and counting on the power that Ichigo was exuding to mask her own, she did something veyr familiar. Inhaling wide, she drew a portion of Aizen's cero towards herself. She then closed her eyes, and let her power build. She opened her mouth, violet energy arcing as a ball began to form in her mouth. Taking careful aim-

A fierce scream erupted into the night!

"GRAN REINA CERO!"

Aizen had been focusing on Ichigo, and didn't notice Neliel firing her cero until the magenta blast caught him just under the right knee. Although not strong enough to seriously hurt him, the blast scorched his shin, and drove his leg out from under him, causing him to stumble forward, his cero going dow, under Ichigo's, it's power harming nothing but sand.

And Ichigo's was headed straight for him.

Ichigo didn't know why the resistance to his cero had suddenly disappeared, or how Nel was here, having been too engrossed in his own struggle to feel her discharging her own cero, but not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Ichigo put every drop of power he had into the cero, hitting the off-balance Aizen head on, enveloping him in the crimson cero.

Ichigo let the power flowing out of his fingers die away. Glancing down, he saw Nel next to him.

**"What are you doing here?" **He rumbled, unable to comprehend why or how she had resumed her adult form. He was vaguely aware that her mask wasn't broken anymore, in fact, it looked to be as good as new.

She smiled weakly, placing one hand on his muscular arm.

Her voice came out strained.

"I...wanted to....help."

He turned to the side to fully face her.

**"You shouldn't be here! What if Aizen's still-**

A massive burst of reiatsu recaptured both of their attention. Neliel's eyes tripled, and Ichigo frowned as Aizen Sosuke stepped forward through the cloud of sand that the cero's had kicked up, and he was _pissed._ He was burned over most of the front of his body, but he wasn't seriously hurt, and his reiatsu was spiking even more strongly.

**"Oh shit-**

Sosuke held out his blade, and ground out one word, as the white steel began to pulse an onyx black.

"Bankai."

Purple light obscurred his form...


	3. Chapter 3

Ichigo cast an arm up to shield his eyes from the glare.

A bright purple fire had consumed Aizen. The sheer heat of it was blistering, threatening to overwhelm you. An air of malice could be felt in the air, nearly as thick as the all-emcompassing reaitsu that had permeated the air. It was mockery in a sense, as if the very blaze was _daring _you to come close enough to burn.

Ichigo himself was struck speechless, even more so as he watched the blaze grow into a roiling twister of dark purple flame. The tornado spiraled endlessly upward, yet stayed in place, as if something were tethering it there, preventing its destructive path from moving ever onward.

Dark clouds gathered overhead, blotting out the crescent moon, covering the entire sky. As the clouds roiled overhead, lighting began to dance overhead, within them.

Yet the rain did not fall, even as the air became charged with electricity.

This power...

It was like nothing he had ever felt before.

It was dark, sinister...

Yet _pure_, as if it had a clear purpose, other than destruction.

Suddenly, the twister, which had been crackling with electricity....

Died down.

If they thought it was over...

Then they were wrong.

Just as the winds died...

KKRAM!

A bolt of lightning struck the blaze!

Aizen stood in the exact same spot as before, but now, his blade had become a large, black curved zanpaktou. Its serated jagged edge gleamed darkly in the night, its slightly curved edge polished to the point where you could see your own reflection in it, as was the entire blade itself.

His clothes were still a pure white, and aside from a few scorch marks here and there, he was entirely alright. He seemed more muscular now, and was perhaps as tall as Ichigo. Red line arced down his visible skin, and his eyes were now matching those of a vizard as well. Strangely enough, his sword arm was now encased in a mesh of chain mail.

And as he saw himself in the steel, he spoke the name of his often hidden bankai.

"Dageki: Osore, kouki no maboroshi. **(Strike into the hearts of my enemies, final phantasmic illusion)**

It gleamed once in response, and he allowed himself a small smile as gazed upon his foe.

"It ends now."

Darting forward faster than the eye could see, Aizen lashed out to impale Neliel on his blade, driving the steel into the soft flesh of her midsection. She doubled over, and blood leaked from her mouth as the steel pierced into her stomach. However, she grabbed the blade, and now held it steady.

Before further damage could be done, Ichigo put his own hand out, letting the blade penetrate his palm before grabbing on to the offending limb and yanking forward, jaws opening to take a bite out of Aizen's shoulder. Aizen, seeing what Ichigo was trying to do, reached out with his free hand, intent on slamming his fingers through the hollow's mask. Ichigo changed the direction of his bite, now trying to chomp off his fingers, and in doing so, got Neliel off the blade. Changing his tactic, Aizen pulled his hand back, slamming his fingers into Ichigo's back while head-butting the vizard.

Ichigo reeled back from the hit, but still had the presence of mind to slam the two foot barbed spike on his tail through Aizen's upper arm. The howl of pain the captain let out was particularly satisfying. The satisfaction was short lived as Aizen used his wounded arm to grab Ichigo by the base of his tail, picking him up, then slamming down face-first into the ground, the impact kicking up a cloud of sand. Seeing Aizen lean down to stab Ichigo, Neliel rejoined the fray, leaping on top of the Aizen, her nails cutting into his shoulders, a violet cero charging in her mouth as the tackled him to the ground.

Distracted, Aizen flailed around, trying to rid himself of the the woman that was on top of him. Ichigo, taking advantage of the fact that Aizen was no longer holding onto his tail, whipped the white appendage around and slammed it into Aizen's midsection, just as Neliel sprang clear of the appendage. In a pain induced fury, Aizen momentarily forgot about her , reaching down with both hands to grab onto Ichigo's tail, pulling it out of him. Then, in an impressive display of brute strength, he ripped Ichigo's tail off at the base.

Ichigo shrieked in agony. He could feel his regeneration ability kicking in, but the fact that he could regenerate didn't mean that having one of his limbs (for he considered his tail to be such) ripped off didn't hurt. Blood spewed like a fountain from the severed tail, and Neliel winced at the damage inflicted to her partner, but Ichigo's attack had given her a window of opportunity that she didn't intend to waste. Her cero was completed, and she let it loose into the back Aizen at point blank range, pulling back with her hands to rake even bigger wounds with her nails as the cero pushed Aizen forward.

But in doing so, she had to leave herself open for at least a second. And as a result, was entirely unprepared for the cero Oscuras that exploded from Aizen's mouth.

Ichigo watched in slow motion as Neliel fell, her body smoking and steaming.

**"BASTARD!"**

Ichigo was on Aizen in an _instant_, forcing the self procclaimed god to drop her and concentrate on him, the lizard in the grips of a fury so powerful that it turned him berserk. Rage had flooded him, killing all rational thought as he had watched his friend get blasted. Any thought of anything other than winning had gone out the window, and the only remaining thought was to cause as much pain to this monster in front of him as was possible.

Howling madly, he attacked!

Ichigo was actually on the defensive and was forced away from Neliel's body as Ichigo went on a rampage, claws and zanpaktou and tail tearing into the enemy, ceros flying as they hammered at each other, neither willing to give an inch.

Ichigo tore four bloody gouges down Aizen's left side, and pulled his tail around, trying for another stab. Aizen didn't even seem to feel the hit as he grabbed hold of Ichigos tail and plunged his hand into his chest. Ichigo let him hit as he brought his hand up and discharged a cero into Aizen's chest, then a Getsuga Tenshou.

Ichigo couldn't really say how long he stood there, giving and taking wounds. His regeneration ability was stretched to its limit, and still the traitor refused to go down. Blow was traded for blow, although Aizen's hits did far more damage than Ichigo's did. Finally, Ichigo, going for Aizen's throat, left himself open and Aizen moved at the speed of light to take advantage of it. His blade nearly tore Ichigos head off his shoulders as it ripped out his throat, his head still attached only because of his backbone.

In the instant of pained shock that followed that, Aizen went on the offensive. A cero to the face sent Ichigo tumbling back across the sand, his body trying to heal the damage to his neck. Landing in a crouch, one of the spines on his shoulder enlarged and shot towards Aizen, mouth forming on the end of the grey chain. Aizen's bloody form didn't even flinch, hand shooting out to grab onto the chain, swinging Ichigo by his own attack.

Ichigo hit one of the trees, the tree shattering as the hollow plowed through it. He collapsed to the ground, an instant to slow in getting up and Aizen was _on him_. Stepping on his tail and one of his outstretched arms, and one of his hands holding down Ichigos other arm, he grabbed Ichigo by the back of the head. "Fool. Did you really believe that two mortals could defeat a god? You have paid the price for your lack of sense. Fools like you should know their place."

Ichigo weezed out a breath.

**"I...have...to...**

Aizen stared at the vizard, then sighed. "You don't have to _do_ anything." He now held up his blade. "Now, rest... Ichigo tore his gaze away and spit a haphazard cero in his face. **"I HAVE TO WIN!" **Something told the hollow that if he looked into that blade, it was over.

Aizen instantly leaped away, knowing that in the state he was in, he couldn't afford to get hit with a point blank cero. Ichigo blurred out of existence, moving so fast that even Aizen could barely keep track of him. Not that it did him any good. Ichigo reappeared right in front of him to let off a cero three times more powerful than the one he'd used.

**"GRAN EMPERADOR CERO!"** Aizen was sent tumbling away, but Ichigo's tail wrapped around his arm, the blades on the side shredding at the appendage.

Yanking him back forward, Ichigo dropped Zangetsu, and brought both of his front claws to tear into him, the wounds he created far worse than anything Neliel he had managed to pull off thus far. Speaking of which, she, had finally caught up, and was coming in from the side, cero already charged. Ichigo smiled maliciously, twisting his body to pull Aizen over, then rolling forward to send him flying towards Neliel, who had just released her cero.

Aizen collided with the cero in midair, the momentum making him crash into the violet energy. He put all his power into protecting himself from it, but in his weakened state, he still got hurt pretty badly. When the cero died away, Ichigo and Neliel panted heavily, having used up the last of their energy.

Imagine their horror when Aizen got back up. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Aizen roared, staggering to his feet, swaying like a drunken sailor. He was a bloody, ragged mess, with the upper half of his robe gone, revealing scorched and blackened skin. "HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU STRIKE AT THE GOD OF THIS WORLD!"

He was leaking some strange white substance now. The stuff was dripping out of his eyes, and now..Now it was coming out of his ears. It began leaking out of his wounds, covering his skin, replacing the blood and grime.

_He was hollowfying._

And to make it worse, he seemed to be doing this inentionally, judging by his wicked laughter. "THIS IS NOT OVER! IT'S FAR FROM OVER! I'LL RIP THE TWO OF YOU APART!" In the midst of his laughter, he suddenly picked up his sword, and _stabbed _himself through the chest.

"GAH!"

He ripped it out, revealing a hollow hole there. "DO YOU SEE NOW?! THIS IS THE TRUE FORM OF YOUR GOD! BOW DOWN BEFORE ME! BOW I SAY! BOW!"

Neliel swayed on her feet, and leaned on Ichigo for support. The vizard could barely stand himself. But Aizen continued to transform. He was starting to look some grotesque being. Where was Aizen getting all this power from? Had he become immortal?

"Ichigo...I can't...

She was still bleeding badly, and looked about ready to pass out.

He wasn't in much better shape. Hichigo and Zangetsu were stopping the bleeding, but he could feel their influence fading. The situation appeared to be hopeless.

**"Crap...Guess this is it...**

"Ichigo...

Neliel embraced him. She began to glow a pale white color. Her aura had become dramatically different: it had become a translucent sphere around her body, with whisps of reiatsu circling it's surface, and that was surrounded by what looked like a huge flame. The wind it made was intense that it was leveling nearby rock formations. She laid her head against his chest. " I...want to thank you. Thank you for everything. You've shown me so much in this life. So many different sights, sounds, people, places...

A lone tear ran down her cheek and was swept away in the winds. Relcuctantly, she released him. A peck on his reaitsu hardened mask. "I only wish it didn't have to end."

**"Huh? What're you-** Slowly at first, she staggered, but then stood firm and tall. She was using her own life force."Ichigo...Ichigo...I'm sorry. I didn't want to do this. I...hope you have a wonderful life with Yachiru."She began to approach Aizen, who was still transforming, and making all kinds of hideous noises and popping sounds.

"But for that to happen...

It took him less than a second to realize her intentions.

"This is the only way."

**"WAIT! NEL!"**

She looked over her shoulder and smiled, as the whisps around her began to turn a golden color. "It was fun. I'm really going to miss you, Ichigo. I hope you remember me."

Pesche and Dondochaka appeared behind Ichigo, and knocked him out, before he could fo after her. His transformation faded, and he returned to normal. Dondochaka picked up Zangetsu.

"Goodbye, Ichigo. I...love you." Neliel whispered.

The energies were at their peak.

Aizen began to laugh.

Nel breathed out.

One last time.

"Take him away. Quickly."

They did so.

She stared down Aizen, as his transformation completed, stalling for time, until her fraccion fully got away.

"AT LAST! THIS IS THE TRUE POWER OF GOD!"

He realized too late, and saw with his new eyes, what Neliel was about to do.

"NO! YOU WOULDN'T DARE! YOU'LL DESTROY YOURSELF!"

"Gran Reina...

For a moment, she stopped glowing.

Everything froze.

**"Sacrificio." (Grand Queen's Sacrifice)**

And the sands exploded in the dome of white.

**Maybe...Maybe he should get Nel AND Yahciru? Presuming I let her live. VOTE PEOPLZ!**


	4. Chapter 4

The survivors had gathered in the remains of Las Noches. The castle was in shambles, but it still served as the best place to hide. Most were shinigami of course, most notably Yoruichi and Soi-Fon, but surprisingly an espada and some fraccion were amongst them. Namely Grimmjow. A temporary peace had been achieved, and though it was an uneasy, he had yet to attack anyone, physically at least.

Verbally, well...

Let us just say that everyone had been thoroughly abused.

Ichigo however, didn't say a word. His throat was hoarse from screaming, and his eyes blind from watching the white dome that had consumed Neliel. That was what came from waking up before Pesche could send him back under again. He'd screamed until he lost his voice, and cried until he'd dried up like a sponge in the sun.

Now he just stared down at his hands and knees, finally letting Unohanna and Orihime tend to his wounds. But only after everyone else had been healed. Yachiru was in stable condition, but she still had yet to awaken.

But...

Nel was dead.

Dead.

The word alone made him shiver. How could you go from life, living breathing, _existing,_ to death, cold pale and lifeless, _gone,_ in a matter of moments? He could still feel her resting against his chest, whispering his name softly, as she closed her eyes-

"Ichigo...

Yeah, just like that-

"Kurosaki." A cold voice made him stiffen. "Are you just going to sit there like a belligerent fool?"

Ichigo spun round, and his squawk of surprise caused several others to leap up as well.

An intruder!

Green, slitted eyes met his startled brown.

"Ulquiorra!" This came from Grimmjow, who staggered to his feet, only for Captain Unohanna to force him back down. Miraculously, he didn't protest, and kept quiet when she asked him not move. Apparently, even Grimmjow was afraid of her.

Byakuya Kuchiki, one of the few uninjured shinigami, quickly stayed Kurosaki's hand, before he could grab Zangetsu off the ground. "Ichigo, calm down. He is no longer the enemy." The strawberry blond looked at him as if he had grown an extra head.

"Are you _nuts_?! He's the one who took Orihime!"

"My views have changed, shinigami. It has always been my utmost duty to protect my home." Ulquoirra said this as he now looked in the direction of Aizen's reaitsu. "Aizen wants to destroy everything, including this place. As such, I can no longe ally myself with him." The sick and wicked energy was still there somehow, but it wouldn't be coming after them for awhile.

Neliel had blown Aizen to bits, and the explosion had scattered parts of him in all three different realms of Hueco Muendo. It was troublesome that the shinigami was still alive, but at least Neliel had bought them a much needed reprieve.

Regeneration of _that level_ would take a long time.

Ulquiorra rolled his eyes, when Ichigo still looked ready to claw his throat out.

"Here, I shall _prove_ my loyalty."

In a blur of Sonido static he was gone."

The back again.

He now carried 'baggage'.

"Does _this_ prove it?"

Ichigo's mouth began to work silently. It was not the espada upon whom his gaze fixed-

But rather the limp form of the woman in his arms.

It was Nel.

She was cut and bleeding all over, and if not for Ulquiorra's jacket wrapped around her, she would be entirely naked. Her chest rose and fell in pained breaths, and her left arm hung at an odd angle.

"I believe she needs medical attention."

Ichigo sputtered furiously, but shouted for Inoue to be brought over here, as she could not come by herself, due to a broken leg. Two shinigami helped to carry her over, and within moments, Nel was in stable condition.

Now, like so many others, she just needed some sleep.

"You seemed surprised." Ulquiorra said this as the two of them looked down at Neliel. Ichigo huffed and looked away, unable to express both the gratitude and the frustration he was feeling right now.

Finally, he spoke.

"I hate you, do you know that?"

Ulquiorra stared ahead for another second, before returning his cold unfeeling eyes to Ichigo. "You have good reason to loathe my existence, shinigami. I do not blame you for you spite." Again he looked away, but now he was staring at Orihime, who had at last allowed herself to be treated by Unohanna.

Ichigo could have sworn he saw Ulquiorra's perpetual frown deepen, just a little bit.

"In fact, I deserve it." He murmured.

"Damn straight." Huffed the strawberry blond, content to have won at least _one_battle today. For a moment, silence reigned over Las Noches. It was quiet, aside from a few cries of pain here and there, it was peaceful even-

Until Ulquiorra spoke up again.

"Kurosaki."

"Whaddya want?"He groaned.

"He will be back."

Realizing he wasn't going to feel at peace unless he talked about this, Ichigo turned around to face Ulquiorra again, but this time, on more civil terms. His tone held an air of finality as he spoke. "Look, I _know_ he's still alive. When he comes...I'll be the one to end it this time."

Much to his surprise, the pallid espada snorted.

"So you intend to sacrifice yourself, as Neliel nearly did? Do not deceive yourself. It will not work." Ichigo was left speechless by the blatant remark."Well...What if we-

_Again_he was shut down before he could even get started. "No. Even if all of us were to attack at once, even with the might of the entire Gotei 13 captains here and on our side, we will still surely fail."

Oh sure, he just had to make it sound hopeless!

"What, you've got a _better_ plan?"

A trace of smirk touched the cuarta's pallid lips.

"Of course I have a better plan."

"I'm all ears."

"Tell me, Kurosaki....Have you ever heard of fusion?"

Ichigo gaped at him.

"Say what?"

"I did not think so. It is a topic not usually discussed amongst your kind, and for good reason. It is the temporary joining of two spiritual beings, usually hollows, to form one superior being."

"What, you're saying this _fusion_, we'll be able to beat Aizen with it-

Ulquiorra cut him off for the third time that day, with a shake of his head. "No, there is no we. You, Kurosaki Ichigo, will be the one to defeat Aizen. The fusion is indeed powerful, but its strength is the individuals who choose to undertake it. To even have the slightest chance of actually merging, you will need to choose someone with high spiritual pressure. It must be near equal to that of your own-

Ichigo began looking around for those he knew had high reaitsu levels.

-With your mask worn.

Damnit. That ruled out at least half of everyone here.

"Furthermore, the individual has to at leat bear some physical resemblance to you." To make his point clear, he elaborated further. "In other words, male. You cannot perform this fusion with a female, such as Neliel."

Ugh! That made his choices even shittier!

"What about you?"

"There is no one here, including you, near the level of power I possess."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about your Segunda Eta-whatever."

"Segunda _Etapa_." Ulquiorra stated curtly. "If you're going to say it aloud, at least say it right."

"Whatever." Grumbled Ichigo, looking out at his allies-

Wait, that left only one logical choice!

And what a choice it was.

"Can't we have someone else fuse?"

"Absolutely not. The three of us are the strongest as of this moment, and there is no other way to get back to the material world. You will have to make do, Kurosaki Ichigo."

--

Grimmjow of course, refused.

Especially after Ulquiorra showed them the necessary movements required to perform the technique.

"Are you friggin kidding me?"

Ichigo seemed equally opposed to the concept.

"There's no way! Not in a million years!"

"Would you rather die?" Replied Ulquiorra, reminding them of what fate awaited them, should they refuse to cooperate.

"Of course!" Barked Grimmjow.

"Look, I want to win, but there's no way I'll fuse with the likes of him!" Ichigo was against it as well.

Ulquiorra ran a hand through his messy black hair.

"Regardless, I want the two of you to at least learn it-

"NO!" They both drowned him out.

He called over Byakuya and explained his plan to him.

"Can you convince them?"

The Kuchiki head took one look at the two rivals, and shook his head.

"I doubt even kami could convince them."

Ulquiorra shook his head and sighed. "Well we have some time until Aizen regenerates, so I suggest the two of you think long and hard about this." He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small black cube.

"For now, this will have to do."

Grimmjow eyed the small box warily.

"Caja Nagacion?" The hell're you gonna use that for?"

"In this dimension, every minute is an hour in our world. It is theoretically possible to receive a years worth of training in one day. "If you two refuse to work together, then I suppose I have no choice-

He flicked the box towards the two. Almost immediately, it snapped open, and began to seal them off.

Grimmjow realized all too late what was about to happen.

-Then to use it to train you."

Then they were devoured.

In a flash of purple, they were gone from this dimension.

--

Byakuya did not seem to confident in Ulquiorra's plan.

"I hope you have a plan B."

The pallid espada glanced over to Yachiru and Neliel. He had a point there. It would be best to have a second line of defense, should things go sour. And a third line of defense was even better.

"Actually, I do have a backup plan. But you're not going to like it."

**Will they relent and try the fusion? Do you Like the dbz references I put in? Note, all the captains are currently in Hueco Muendo, because Aizen was stopped from creating the Oken.**


	5. Fuse

"Is that all?" Aizen sighed, tossing aside another nameless shinigami, his latest victim. "I expected a challenge." Sosuke Aizen had returned, looking relatively normal, but in reality, his new powers were anything but. As they'd all realized firsthand.

Upon his return, he had brought _another_ army of hollows with him, and much to the defender's dismay, amongst them were the fallen espada, those that had already been killed by Ichigo and his friends alike. Starrk, Halibel, Barragan, all were here.

A human was the next to feel Aizen's wrath.

"Release her."

Aizen stood calmly, his left hand gripped around the neck of Orihime.

Ulquiorra barely heard Byakuya appear next to him. His teal eyes were focused solely on the sunset-haired woman that the shinigami was dangling above the ground. Her nimble fingers clawed futilely at the fist that was closed around her neck. Her clothes were burnt, exposing the charred flesh of her legs and stomach. Her soft brown eyes looked at Ulquiorra frantically, the fear readily apparent in the big orbs.

"You bastard," Ulquiorra hissed as he pulled the blade from his sheathe, his eyes narrowing to crystalline slits as he leveled it at his former master. "Put her _down_."

"It's rather ironic, isn't it?" Aizen said calmly, as though he hadn't even heard the enraged espada speak. "That the three of us would meet again like this?"

"I said put her down!" Ulquiorra yelled in a rare lapse of character, his hands tightening on _Murciealgo's _cloth-wrapped grip. He heard Byakuya's zanpakuto slide from its sheath to his left, but the sound was distant in his ears, as the Kuchiki began his battle with Halibel. He was too focused on the pleading eyes of this woman as she hung from the end of the monster's outstretched arm, her cheeks turning red from the strain on her neck.

"_Ulqui…" _Orihime choked out, her words catching in her throat as Aizen tightened his grip.

"You know…" Aizen began softly as his right hand reached around to the zanpakuto on his lower hip, his black nailed fingers tightening around the grip. "…something I've always wondered…"

"_Ulquiorra… kun," _Orihime sputtered as the blade of Aizen's _Kyouka Suigestu _left its sheath, her legs kicking hopelessly in the air beneath her.

"…is why I never…"

"_Let her go!"_

Orihime's chest suddenly exploded outwards in a fountain of crimson blood as the blade erupted through her sternum. Aizen smirked viciously.

"…never decided to eliminate all of Soul Society's healers _first_."

Ulquiorra bolted forward as Orihime's lifeless corpse fell to its knees, his voice tearing out of him in a bestial roar as Aizen slid the zanpakuto out of her flesh.

"Bind: Murcielago!"

Emerging from the black rain that was his release, a raging Ulquiorra Schiffer stepped into view, wielding two spikes of emerald light. Aizen wore a bemused expression at the sight of the former's release.

Aizen casually brought his blade up and blocked the strike, Ulquiorra's sparking spears crashing against _Suigetsu _in a shower of sparks. The Shinigami's eye glared into that of his opponent's, the hatred in his brown orbs meeting a practically emotionless glare.

"_Cero_…" Ulquiorra snarled as energy began to swell along his hand, "_Oscuras!"_

The black swell of light bulleted forward at the shinigami from point blank range. It plowed onward, pushing Aizen backwards as he was forced to hold his block against the powerful attack. With a simple flick of his wrist, however, the former captain slashed the swathe of energy in half. As his vision cleared, Aizen saw that Ulquiorra was already flying towards him in the wake of the attack.

"So you would turn against me as well, Ulquiorra?"

Their blades crashed against each other once more as the former espada launched into a flurry of strikes. Aizen dodged and parried perfectly, his movements appearing effortless in contrast with his opponent's sloppy, rage-driven attacks. Ulquiorra suddenly jabbed forward with his left hand , the black tip of his handaiming directly for Aizen's chest. The shinigami skipped directly backwards and quickly lifted his blade to counter, tearing off the offending limb.

The espada tugged against the defense, but the remains of his arm was completely frozen within the man's grip, trapped within his opponent's power. He looked up in fury as Aizen reached down and grabbed his _right_ forearm, further locking him into place. A small orb of red light began to swirl around in front of the shinigami's mouth as he pulled Ulquiorra even closer to him. His mouth opened as a malicious whisper emerged:

"_Cero."_

The large blast slammed into Ulquiorra, leaving a swath of charred earth in the ground as it drilled through and demolished the nearest pillar. But no sooner had the rubble fallen, then a pillar of dark light burst forth from the stone, and a hellish creature emerged.

"Oh?" Aizen arched an eyebrow in surprise at the espada's second release. "I haven't seen _that_ form before."

Ulquiorra's response was to form a lance of lightning in his hands.

Aizen sighed and raised a hand, the flesh of his right arm beginning to bubble and froth.

"Begone."

--

"This....could be going better." Kisuke replied between blows with a persistent hollow that possesed a regeneration factor. Byakuya was nearby as well, currently trying to keep Halibel at bay with his _bankai, _but unable to use _Goukei _due to the multitude of clashes taking place on the ground.

"There." Byakuya replied suddenly, his expression bland as always, but now, there a hint of smug satisfaction in his tone. "Then perhaps you should look."

Turning to the direction in which his comrade was speaking, a dull tearing sound reached Kisuke's ears. There, to the left, the air was starting to rip and crack as if something were fighting to break through the air itself. Garaganta? No, this was not from a garaganta, it was too structured for that.

Intrigued but slightly bored from killing so many weaklings, Sosuke Aizen remained airborne, looking on as the purple hairline cracks became full blown breaks. "Interesting." Abruptly the noise ceased, and a hand thrust itself out from the torrential whirling blackness, then another, emerging from the rip parrallel to the first.

He took one look at the battlefield and sighed.

"Yo, we're late, Grimmjow."

Ichigo Kurosaki emerged, Zangetsu slung over his shoulder, wearing a confident smirk. His hair had a slightly rougher look to it, and his clothing was torn and ripped at places, almost as if he'd been in a fight, which, after being stuck in the same dimension with Grimmjow for a year, was quite possible.

"Shaddap. It's your fault we stayed that extra week." Grimmjow Jaggerjack was second, punching his way out of the negacion that had bound him only moments ago. Like Ichigo, his clothing was ripped and tattered, but unlike the vizard, his had grown down to his shoulders, maintaining its spiky appearance as well. He took one good look at Aizen, and his face spread out into a wide, reckless grin.

The cavalry had arrived.

Ichigo brandished Zangetsu and cracked his neck, spotting Aizen immediately.

"You think we can take him like this?"

"Fine," Grimmjow sighed, his shoulder slumping in defeat. "Let's...just get this over with."

They rapidly peformed a series of bizarre and elaborate movements, some of which were quite and odd and humiliating to witness. Eventually, it ended with pressing two fingers together while in a complex pose and declaring.

"Fu-sion-ha!"

Everything stopped as the pillar of light burst into the air, a blinding white flash eclipsing the two. Once it had faded, the fighting resumsed, but bluish red sparks flashed everywhere, filling the air and earth with a thick, heavy spiritual pressure as someone could finally be seen in all the fog. A single figure could be seen within the smoke, which parted slightly, revealing the lower half of his face, curved into a sly grin.

"Hey, this isn't so bad after all."

"What?" Aizen frowned, turning his attention towards the duo as the storm began to weaken. "What is this?"

At last he could be seen, a supreme being who emanated power. His clothing was a mx of Ichigo's and Grimmjow's, a white open jacket with loose black sleeves, and black hakama pants, streaked with white vertical lines. His face was a hard chiseled mix of the best features of the two, with Grimmjow's mask remnant, but Ichigo's spiky hair, yet blue with orange at the tips.

Strapped to his back were two swords, one of them Tensa Zangetsu, the other Pantera in its sealed state.

"Ichigo and Grimmjow are united." The figure replied mysteriously, opening his eye to expose a mismatching set of eyes, one light blue, the other an dark amber brown. "Hmm, I guess you could call me...Ichijow?"

Sosuke sweatdropped.

"Nah, forget what I said before." The man sighed, shook himself, and pressed one finger to his forehead in consternation. "That doesn't sound right. Hmm....hey, can you give me a minute to think it over?"

"Excuse me?" Aizen scowled. In a swish of shunpo, he appeared before him, only for the new being to whirl on him, clipping his temple with the back of his heel. Stunned, the former captain reeled back, but the warrior was already there, heaving the traitor into the air.

"Sorry about that." He called up to a surprised Aizen, rolling his shoulder, producing a satisfying pop. He now set about doing the same to his other shoulder. "I'm still getting used to this new body, so I couldn't exactly hit you the way I'd wanted to."

"How about I kill you instead?"

"Grimchigo?" The being shrugged, not really hearing a word of it. "Ah well, not much of a name, but it'll do I guess." Reaching to his back, he drew both Zangetsu and Pantera, then took a stance that was a mixture of their respective owners.

But that smirk _definitely_ belonged to Grimmjow.

"Now, c'mere so I can cut ya!"

**Sorry about the name. For the life of me, I could not find a decent way to mix their names! Next time: Esapda vs captains! Hollows vs shinigami! The body count contiues to rise!**


	6. Sloth

**Meh, I don't think Grimchigo is a very good name? How bout Jowichi? Any ideas anybody? Note: Credit for the scene between Halibel and Byakuya goes to JasoThe Artisan!**

**Quote of the day: "Puh-Lease! I'm just a lowly-but-handsome merchant. How could I possibly perform Bankai?"**

**--**

**_Sloth_**

"Ow." Ow ow ow ow."With a dull groan, Shinji Hirako picked himself out of the rubble. "Man, that one really _hurt_." That cero nearly killed him, yet here he was. His head spun, and he could still feel the acrid tasted of blood on his tongue, in his mouth, and his leg was broken, but he was still alive, somehow.

He could feel it. Two massive reaitsu burdened the desert, but everyone else was too consumed in their own battles to actively notice it. One was definitely Aizen's but the other was, had to be, definitely was....

A pained smile traced his lips.

"Bout damn time, Ichigo-Nrgh!"

Blood passed his lips in vomit, as the sword pierced his stomach.

"Surely you don't intend to just stand there." Zommari landed a foot away from him, staring at the vizard impassively. "Or do you intend to die on your feet, nameless intruder?"There was silence, no response was given for a moment. "Heh." Shinji chuckled, his overly-gracious smile shining out from beneath straight blonde bangs. "Hehehe."

_'This reaitsu..._

"Sorry pal. I can't die just yet."

"Hmm?" Zommari arched an eyebrow as saffron light began to pour from the blond. "What is this?" Slowly, the former captain forced himself to rise, to ignore the terrible pain in his left calve. With trembling fingers, he held tightly the hilt of his sword.

Shinji's smile vanished as the arrancar stopped in his tracks, his white shoes planting themselves into the soil below. His upper lip arched back up slightly, his mouth now a cross between a snarl and a sneer as his eyes narrowed and darted down to the sword_. _His own left hand tightened on the sword that it was holding as he made eye contact with her once more.

"I got a lil' lady waiting for me _**back home**_." With a swift, practiced movement, the vizard donned his mask. **_"And I can't be lettin' her down, ya know?"_** His voice becoming distorted amongst the surge of hollowfied reaitsu, adding a blackish tinge to the saffron glow his body emitted.

Taking the hilt, he pointed it at the_ Septima,_ who started back a step, his eyes widening in surprise. **_"So lemme tell ya my name. Shinji Hirako, former fifth squad captain!"_** Perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of excitement, who knew why the espada lurched back? Regardless, there was no mistaking the hellish reaitsu that now rose from Shinji Hirako.

_"Bankai."_

Realizing the danger, Zommari drew his own sword.

"Suppress: Brujeria!"

--

"HaHA!"

A pscychotic smile tugged at Kenpachi Zaraki's lips, his sword spilling blood once more. This was great! He got the chance to fight so many powerful opponents and now another one just showed up! Sure, he sucked at sensing reiatsu, but he knew that was Ichigo, anyone could tell, could recognize that killer intent halfway across the battlefield.

"Heh. Nice reiatsu. Even better than last time!" He leered at Nnoitra Jiruga who had just released before him. "Now c'mere, espada!"

--

"Hey look!" Yachiru danced away from Barragan, then turned to point to the twin pillars of reaitsu rising into the air. "Ichi! That's _gotta_ be Ichi!"

"What?" Nel turned to look at the sight. She could feel Ichigo's reaitsu somewhere out there, but at the same time, she felt Grimmjow's spiritual pressure as well. "Where?" She couldn't sense one without the other. It felt as if they were intertwined...

_'Did they..._

A bright smile spread to Yachiru's face, and the pinkette pumped one fist into the air."Go Ichi!" The segunda's Gran Caida swiped harmlessly over her head, but she didn't seem to care, instead vaulting over the massive axe to prepare her counter.

"Sorry, but I gotta go help Ichi!"

A think pink film formed in her palm and Barragan started in surprise as what appeared to be a _cero _formed in her hand.

**_"What?!"_**

"Now scram!"

--

"Hmph." Byakuya snorted, his slate colored eyes narrowing in distaste at Halibel's release. "You claim to be superior to us?"

Wordlessly did his wave of blades surge forward, the cascading wall of pink rushing towards the female Arrancar with a deadly force. Soon her form was completely eclipsed by the mass of blades, causing Byakuya to resort to sensing her _reiatsu _to replace his lack of visual aid. Fortunately, this split-second of blindness did not provide him with a hindrance; he had honed this technique of blind-targeting with immense training, almost crafting it into an art. He could easily carve a Hollow into ribbons without so much as opening an eye.

_"Cero."_

Byakuya leaped to the side, his body narrowly missing Halibel's unusually wide attack. His right hand swept out quickly, causing a scythe of floating blades to form and slice through the horde of its brethren. The pink cloud parted, allowing Byakuya to clearly see the woman he was attempting to kill, her body now directly in the path of his swift strike.

With a punching sound, she was suddenly behind him, her massive sword raised vertical above her head. A wall of pink rushed in and formed from surrounding the cloud, blocking her would-be fatal strike as it came crashing down towards Byakuya. The large blade sliced a perfect crescent down the middle of this barrier, revealing to Halibel that her Shinigami prey was gone. He gave her less than a second to ponder on his whereabouts as he whispered into existence behind her, both hands outstretched as a twin pair of horizontal minarets, each formed from the countless blades that surrounded the two of them, came barreling towards her. She quickly reacted pointing her sword at the incoming spires.

"_La Gota."_

A large bullet of water short forth from the tip of her blade, her attack causing Byakuya's to splinter and scatter into formlessness. He barely leaped away, the powerful attack punching a neat hole out of the corner of his white _haori. _With a short burst of _shunpo, _he removed himself from the massive ball of pink, the sphere dissipating and falling apart as he made his exit. He landed softly upon a nearby rooftop, his cold eyes regarding the calm Arrancar standing on the ground below.

"I see you prefer the use of your blade in combat, Hollow," Byakuya said calmly, finally breaking the conversational impasse that had held out between the two. Halibel said nothing, her eyes remaining fixed upon her Shinigami opponent.

"Fortunately," Byakuya continued, his hands making a single small gesture as he spoke, "I can also combat you with a blade.

"_Senkei."_

The swirling pink mass immediately spread out to encompass the entire courtyard in which they were standing, the randomly floating shards suddenly shaping themselves into a rectangular box of swords. Halibel flicked her eyes to the side in an attempt to understand the size of the prison in which she was currently encased in, her attention breaking from Byakuya for a single moment as she sized up her new – and possibly far more deadly – arena.

When her eyes moved forward again, Byakuya was reappearing from the nothingness of _shunpo, _his right arm raised and its hand equipped with a glowing pink blade. Halibel had no choice but to take the attack, the powerful sword opening a slice down her belly. The gash ran down along her flat stomach, the centermost of the row of white denticles now missing. Her _hierro _proved strong enough to render the wound non-fatal, but her blood still stained the ground beneath her feet as she continued her leap backwards.

"Impressive, Shinigami," Halibel said, touching a gloved finger to the blood that was now trickling down her stomach. "That strike was quite powerful. Would I be wrong in assuming that that blade of yours is comprised of densely concentrated _reiatsu?" _

"Not quite," Byakuya replied, pointing the sword at her. "The thousands of swirling blades you saw earlier have now condensed themselves into these few dozen _katana. _This action simply increases their destructive potential; one strike from this zanpakuto is equivalent to fifty slashes from a normal sword."

"I see," Halibel said slowly, her spiritual pressure rising within the pink prison. "_Cascada."_

A massive wall of water suddenly crashed through the back wall of the _Senkei, _causing Byakuya to take his attention off of Halibel and _shunpo _out of the way of her tsunami-like attack. As he appeared again, he found the Espada directly across from him, her sword pointed at his chest as she trapped him between the wall of water and her deadly weapon. Water began to swell along the edges of her zanpakuto and a small smirk crossed her face.

_"La Gota."_

The aquatic bullet launched forth, its piecing tip aimed directly for Byakuya's head.

--

"Starrk! Stop fooling around and get him already!"

He replied with a sigh.

"Fine."

"!!"

Blue eyes narrowed slightly, a trickle of blood running down his forehead, into his sandy blond hair. "That wasn't very nice...I do believe you killed my hat."Kisuke sighed, as he held up the ruined remains of his most favorite headgear. It was split entirely in half, down the middle, leaving very little to ever possibly be salvaged.

"Look, see? It's ruined."

"Oh, then I apologize." Starrk didn't seem too intetested in the shinigami's hat. "I was trying to kill you with that strike."

"Shall we get srious then?" Urahara asked with a sly smile, tapping the flat end of his cane against the ground. "After all, It'd be a shame if this had to... drag on for so long." Without another word, he pulled the sword free from its base..

"Awaken, Benihime."

"!!" Starrk lurched back in surprise as Urahara's _shikai_ cleaved the air where he had been but a moment ago. "I'd rather not." Starrk yawned, a bored look in his eyes, lethargically blocking the next blow with the back of his hand. "You won't be much of a match for me once I release, and it's a pain in the ass to do that."

"Perhaps I know why." Kisuke peered at him intently.

"..."

"There is nothing but _sloth_ reflected in your sword. When you dodge, you're too lazy to kill. When you attack, you're afraid of killing someone. Even when you try to protect someone, you're afraid of letting them die. Yes, your sword speaks to me only of absurd lazziness, that or _fear_. What's necessary in a fight isn't fear. Nothing can be born of that. When you dodge, "I won't let them cut me." If you protect someone, "I won't let them die." If you attack, "I will kill them."

That being said, he gave a small smile. "Well, can't you see the resolve to kill you in my sword, Espada-san?"

"Oh?' Starrk frowned. "Well, when you put it that way....

With a metallic clack, he sheathed his sword.

"Then I don't have much of a choice."

--

"You gonna stand there all day?"

"What _are_ you?" Aizen Sosuke peered at the man over the steel with great curiosity. "Are you saying that the two of you have become one being?" For a shinigami and a hollow to become entire being was highly unlikely, especially considering the fact that thesr two hated each other so.

"That's right." The espada vizard hybrid propelled himself forward, grinning madly, even as Aizen prepared his counter. "Now lemme show ya!" Now, to Aizen's dismay, _Kyouka Suigetsu_ passed through an afterimage, dense air as the being disappeared. "Where-

"You like it?" With a punch of _sonido_ Grimchigo _reappeared _behind him, grinning like a deranged maniac, and with the fusion of two half hollows, insanity was very likely. "I call it _Gemelos Sonido_. It's a helluva lot better than Zommari's, ain't it?" Startled, the captain whirled, but again, the zanpaktou met empty air.

"Figured it out yet?" The dual wielder grinned, erupting out of another sonido to slash at Sosuke's face. Caught unawares, the hollowfied captain lurched back, but not before Pantera left a small divet in his chin. Lunging back, the hybrid again evaded the strike, laughing as his powerful leap carried him away. "Nah, didn't think so."

_Ba-dump._

A hand seized his shoulder, and whirling about, he found himself facing a dark light, stemming from his fingertips, there was no mistaking the incoming technique. Thinking that he had won, Aizen allowed himself a small, confident smirk.

A smirk that soon became a scowl.

_"Cero clario!"_ In retaliation to the dark zero, a blast of the purest, brightest white burst from the tip of Grimchigo's tongue, countering the incoming _cero_. With a loud thump, the two attacks collided, spraying spikes of heated reaitsu all about, throwing the two fighters apart.

Grimchigo didn't notice the blur behind him.

_Suigetsu_ struck true, but bounced off, spraying sparks, numbed from the impact, his arm back and into the air. It was almost as if the soul cutter had struck steel. Grimchigo cackled as he turned round, for Tensa Zangetsu was already on a collision course with the traitor's shoulder.

"Nrgh!!"

Blood sprayed like a crimson fountain, staining the black blade red. His haori in tatters, the captain struggled to straighten himself up, only for the latter's foot to kick him into the nearby sand dune. Slowly, Grimchigo approached, his hand latching onto a nearby hollow and disintegrating it.

"All the espada, I have _all_ their abilities. Every last skill belongs to me, after all." Struggling to rise, Aizen made a disbelieving face at this. "Impossible. For that to happen, you'd have to absorb their physcial beings. And yet you say you have not?"

"Oh I don't need to absorb them." A sly grin crept up Grimchigo's face. "Just watch."

Aizen didn't have time to react – the attack came from too quickly and from too short a distance. The red beam slammed against his chest and sent him spiraling backwards into the eastern wall of the piazza. His vision was dizzying slightly as he stopped moving and the heat of the _cero _dissipated from his body, but he was able to see the light blue sky above him as he struggled to get up.

Grimchigo was suddenly directly above him, his left arm outstretched and his index finger pointed directly at him.

"I may not be able to use _my_ full power here, Mr. Captain," The hybrid said coolly as he squeezed his left eye shut. His left thumb suddenly stuck out and he tilted his hand so that it looked like a toy gun. "But that doesn't mean I can't use _other's_ techniques."

"!!"

"_Cero Metralleta."_

A massive wave of _cero _erupted from his fingertip and rained downwards at Sosuke. With a blur, the shinigami dissapeared, but no sooner had he erupted from the shunpo, then a pulsating blue shadow, that of his enemy, fell over him...

_"Desgarrón."_ His claws glowed and then he made a slashing motion creating giant "claws" of solidified energy, each about a kilometer long, from the end of each finger. The attack had been expected, but its speed wasn't.

Stabbing fiercely with his blade, Aizen shattered the azure claws, blurring away in a burst of shunpo. As his form became visible on the nearby pillar, a wall of thick, dense reaitsu swarmed over him.

"_Cascada."_

A massive wall of water suddenly crashed through the back wall of the pillar_,_ causing Sosuke to take his attention off of Grimchigo and _shunpo _out of the way of their tsunami-like attack. As he appeared again, he found the Espada directly across from him, sword pointed at his chest as he trapped him between the wall of water and the deadly weapon. Water began to swell along the edges of both zanpaktou and a small smirk crossed his face.

_"La Gota."_

The aquatic bullet launched forth, its piecing tip aimed directly for Aizen's head. Again he dissapeared, but when he could be seen again, there was a small gash running horizontal from his forehead to the left ear.

"Not bad." Grimchigo clapped his hands as if to congratulate his efforts. "Yer a speedy little bugger, you know that? However...

Grimchigo said nothing more as he lifted his left hand up to the exposed side of his face. With a swift movement, the missing half of his Ichigo's vizard mask re-grew as he waved his palm over it, the white bone moving like milk as it molded itself into a ghastly skull.

His Vizard mask was on now, the red and white streaks lining the left side of his face, molding with jagged blue lines that ran down the middle**_"But there will be no avoiding this one, Aizen Sosuke!" _**Grimchigo yelled, his voice distorted by the surge of hollow _reiatsu _that erupted from his body. He rushed forward, a black and crimson sheet of energy wrapping itself around his blade as he closed the distance between the two of them.

Clenching one hand into a fist, he inhaled deeply, as if he were about to scream. The air filled his lungs, and a black, withering smoke began to shine from behind the hybrid's masked teeth, giving them a decayed, rotted appearance.

Too late, Aizen realized the danger but he could not leap away.

_"Respira."_

**_Well well, look's like Sosuke is effectively getting his ass handed to him, eh? Hope ya liked that little bit of ShinjixHiyori I slid in there! Next time: The fight continues and the tables turn!_**


End file.
